Welcome, everyone, to a new edition of The Guest Sessions here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. Today’s video is from yet another band that I never even heard of before seeing this Guest Sessions submission. It’s a trio group called Dirty Vegas. I think that’s pretty funny because, well, have you been to Vegas? No, I’m just kidding- I actually LOVE Las Vegas and think it gets a bad rep. It’s actually a pretty awesome place and it’s not really dirty at all, considering how many people are there year-round!
No, the funny part to me is that the band Dirty Vegas is actually from England! That’s right. I’m thinking of coming up with a band called “Dirty Liverpool” to make up for it. 🙂
I received today’s Guest Session cover song music video submission from a man named Rob Nakai, who goes by “HolidayRob” on YouTube. He is a very talented guitar and singer- I checked out a few of his videos online while browsing his YouTube page. I decided to feature this video first, as the quality of the video itself was superior to some earlier videos.
The song is called “Days Go By”, and no, children of the 90s- this isn’t the theme song to “Family Matters”. I know you’re disappointed. But, give this song a shot- I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised! Congrats to HolidayRob for making the Guest Sessions this week on the best cover song music blog on the internet: the Laptop Sessions!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Hello and welcome to another week of all-new high quality Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video blog material! (Now, that’s a mouthful!) We’ve got an exciting week lined up for you regular visitors: one classic Laptop Session post each for Monday and Tuesday, another Phish Friday with Guest Sessions contributor Jeremy Hammond, the final edition of “Yes, No, or Maybe So: One-Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums” (finally!), and of course, another edition of “The Weekend Review” on Sunday. And you never know what impromptu posts will surface to cover Wednesday and Thursday. For instance, I’ve got more than a dozen “Yes, No, or Maybe So” ‘s on the way soon, not to mention my “Top Five Rock Artists of the Decade” series that’s stagnated; it’s all a matter of timing.
April break is coming…
For tonight, let me begin by explaining my song choice. You may be wondering, “Pink? The woman? Really?” Well, as you can see with even a quick glance at the freeze frame below, I’ve recently undergone a serious haircut. As part of the NHHS English dept. team, I participated in the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser to fight children’s cancer last Wednesday. I’m not going to lie: it was a bit scary. For one thing, I’ve never had my hair this short. For another, I’ve had issues with my scalp being dry and itchy for years, so I didn’t know what it would look like once the hair came off. Thankfully, all went well. After the event, my team went out to Harry’s Sports Bar & Grill, which a few of us thought was fantastic — I mean, come on, that’s a Dr. Keck-sized pun (watch it!) waiting to happen.
We must have looked like a band of skinheads, based on the looks we elicited from the weekday crowd…
Back to the music. Weeks ago, I knew that this would be coming up. I realized that it coincided with the season premiere of the AMC original show Breaking Bad that Dana got me hooked on last year. I took the time to look up the music that has been used on the show over its first two seasons, and I found several songs that I liked. The wildest one, I thought, was Pink’s “Trouble.” If I could pull off an acoustic cover of that song, now that would be fun. I learned it that day, and I forgot about it until earlier this weekend. I can’t tell you how weird it was to take a Pink song seriously, but I have a newfound respect for at least this song. It’s a pretty straightforward number, and it was fascinating to me just how easily I translated it to a solo acoustic performance.
I hope you enjoy the product!
In other Laptop Sessions news, I finally went back to my “Yes, No, or Maybe So: One-Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums” post. I hadn’t updated it since September 2009, so I figured it was about time I finished it off. My main reason for neglecting it for so long was that I realized mid-way through last year that it would make more sense to publish each review as its own post. I’ve been doing that since 2010 kicked off, and it’s been so much more fun than the old system. I not only added the new 2009 albums I listened to since the previous update, but I also went back through the existing entries and adapted them to the slightly new rating system I’m using now. Essentially, each “Yes, No, or Maybe So” review has five components: the rating, the release date, the one sentence review, the top two tracks, and an image of the album cover. I didn’t go back through and add cover images for all 30 or so albums, but I did match them to my new rating system. Under this easy system, an album can receive one of five scores: Yes, Maybe So, Maybe, Maybe Not, or No. This is in line with the classic five star rating system that I use for the Weekend Review. Over the past several months, I’ve been reconsidering my older reviews. The more I listen and write reviews, the more I want the perfect “Yes” to be an elusive rating, a true five star record. Before I added the “Maybe” as an option, I found that there were simply too many “Maybe So” entries that didn’t quite deserve that score, but weren’t in the “Maybe Not” range either.
Long story long, it seems that there is a learning curve to be expected with all things.
Outside of the head shaving and blog posting, life has been good recently. Busy, to be sure, but good. I’m still deep in the middle of a Star Trek: Voyager viewing marathon with Nicole, and I couldn’t be happier to indulge my dorkier tendencies. I’ve also been busy musically in a couple different ventures. The first is my next album, titled simply The 2010 Project for now, that I’m only just now taking seriously. After almost four years since Love Out of Fashion, I decided it was about time I took some ownership of my next project. So, I’ve polished and restrung my acoustic and electric guitars, borrowed my sister’s bass guitar, and taught myself how to use loops in GarageBand. There are only two missing pieces that I am in the process of researching: first, a guitar pedal to replace my Zoom pedal (lost to battery acid damage…) and second, a good USB microphone to record vocals, harmonica, etc. I’ve had such an itch to record recently that I’ve been playing around with demo versions of some of the fully written songs.
I’m excited that they don’t sound nearly as cheesy as my previous attempt at synthesized drums on Looking For You‘s “Shut Up, Bob”!
Outside of the recording, I’m still deciding which songs will make the cut, what concept/theme I think should drive the record, and I’m still writing verses, middles, and lyrics to finish off several songs that have been incomplete for days, months, or even years.
My other project involves the band I’ve jammed with on and off since I first started teaching. This go-round, there are five of us — a lead guitarist, me on rhythm (electric!), a keyboardist/harmonica player, a bass player, and a drummer. They’re all terrific musicians, so I definitely feel like I need to be on my toes constantly. Specifically, we’ve been practicing to play two songs for the Teacher Talent Show this Thursday: a parody of Bob Marley’s “Jammin’” (based on the challenges of using the Xerox copier at school) and a parody of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” I haven’t really rocked out since MoU’s last show, so being up on stage Friday to rehearse was great. We’re playing in the school’s beautiful theatre, and my bandmates have furnished us with some powerfully loud amps. We jammed on each song for about fifteen minutes straight last Friday, and I played “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” until I thought my left hand was going to fall up and all the muscles in my arm would snap. Any guitarist who’s played rock music knows that this discomfort is all code for having a great time!
So, at long last, I’ll leave you to my cover song music video for the week. As for me, I’m off to the BK Lounge to kick off TNA night part two (after last night’s very entertaining PPV).
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
As a “Yankee” from up here in Connecticut, I honestly had no idea if I would be able to relate to Meade Skelton’s new album, “Meade Music”. With song titles like, “Sweet Tea”, “Old South”, and “Me And My Horse”, would I really understand the sentiments Meade was trying to convey in his music? Up in Connecticut, sweet tea is bought pre-brewed at Stop & Shop and I see a horse about once a year grazing in some rich person’s sprawling yard. As I said, I really wasn’t sure what to expect…
So, I started to play the album…and smiled. It only took one listen for me to realize that the smile on my face was due to Meade’s sincerity, piano-playing skills, and and songwriting ability. But, we’ll get to that soon. First, some background:
Meade Skelton is a singer/songwriter/piano player from Richmond, VA. This is not the first of his albums reviewed here at the Laptop Sessions music video blog, but it’s the first one I’ve reviewed, so his music was a new experience for me. Meade and his Meadow Street Band are a very active group, and I can see why. One look at “Meade’s Place” (the name for his website at http://www.meadeskeltonsplace.com) and you can see the passion Meade has for his music. His dedication is inspiring, actually.
There are a few stand-out elements of Meade’s album. First is his superb piano playing. He plays with passion. He also plays to fill the sound out (there isn’t much guitar on the album, save for a really great lap steel guitar here and there), but he never does too much. The jangly upright piano style is perfectly suited for his little bit country/little bit rock’n’roll music. Probably the best element of this album is Meade’s singing voice. It’s strong in the right places, but he never screams. It’s got a clear sound with just the right amount of melancholy. He uses that down-south vibrato at times, but thankfully he never over-does it. The only element I’m not too fond of on the album is the drumming, as it’s off-tempo at many times, which detracts from the listening experience. If a more country sound is what Meade was going for on this album, then a bona fide country drummer would’ve been better than conforming a rock drummer to that alternate style. Though, I would love to hear these songs played with a rock drum beat, just for the heck of it.
The overall style of sound on “Meade Music” reminds me of the Byrds when they went into their country phase. It’s a sophisticated sound that sounds like country at first, but really has many elements of a rock’n’roll background. But, the best part of Meade’s songwriting actually harks to a different style of songwriter: Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. You see, upon first listen, many Beach Boys classic songs can be written off as “happy fluff”. But, Brian Wilson always had a great knack of integrating a sadder undertone to his music. It showed that his music came from the heart and a place of innocence. Meade may be singing about memories of the bus he used to take in “Old Bus 48”, but the minor chord changes Meade throws in throughout the album give the listener a feeling of a somber remembrance- it’s the feeling that, while Meade looks back with fondness, he also misses those good ol’ days. I think that’s what gives “Meade Music” some great staying power. And, the fact that he uses his reflection on the past so well made me relate to the songs I thought were way out of my comfort-zone, like I mentioned earlier.
My favorite track on the album is “Before You Go”, a late-album gem. The general sound reminds me of The Turtles’ classic “Eleanore”. The subject matter is a little more serious than on the rest of the album, that is, “Before You Go” is more upfront about it. This is the song I would play for any prospective listener first.
Meade’s new album is available everywhere, but you should look for it on Amazon.com (mp3 digital download here) and at CD Baby (on CD here). Also, available in August 2012, you can purchase the album on vinyl, which I think would suit this album wonderfully. You should definitely give this album a listen and check out the rest of Meade’s Music on his website!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
It is the best and truest mark of artistry in the music industry, and sales are no indication of significance. Sequencing and thematic continuity, sonic experimentation within a basic set of familiar parameters, a healthy range of types and topics: these are the standards by which to judge an album.
The album.
It ascended into an art form in the mid-sixties under the careful work of artists like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys. It was taken to new heights with the experimentation of later bands, from the concept albums of the Moody Blues to the spin-off success of artists like Bruce Springsteen. The album – and rock in general – saw a rebirth in the nineties, with the work of those like Weezer, the Wallflowers, the Barenaked Ladies, and a slew of others who led a surge of excellent rock music.
These days, the album has faced a crossroads. Specifically, with the advent and surge of digital sales, the physical formats of music are on the chopping block. Still, with the rise of vinyl sales even as CD sales continue to decline, there is hope yet. And, contrary to an army of naysayers, there are still excellent albums being made. This year, as with the past several years that I have been tuned into a vast array of albums, I would say there are about five albums that will undoubtedly stand the test of time and compete for top spots when I eventually get around to my Best Albums of All Time list. Which, at this point, might have to wait until I hit retirement.
But, for the moment, you have my Best Albums of 2011 list, and if you’re interested in reading more about any of these albums, you can access my Weekend Review report (including star rating, production info, and a full review) by simply searching the album title and band name in the search bar above. And, of course, if you see reason for disagreement or any gaps in my list, it’s up to you to leave comments below.
1) The Whole Love (Wilco)
2) The King is Dead (The Decemberists)
3) Last Night on Earth (Noah & the Whale)
4) Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)
5) Bad As Me (Tom Waits)
6) Unfortunate Casino (Gerry Beckley)
7) The King of Limbs (Radiohead)
8) Yuck (Yuck)
9) Lasers (Lupe Fiasco)
10) W H O K I L L (The Tune-Yards)
11) The Graduation Ceremony (Joseph Arthur)
12) Vol. 2: High and Inside (The Baseball Project)
13) Collapse Into Now (R.E.M.)
14) Move Like This (The Cars)
15) The Valley (Eisley)
16) Cloud Maintenance (Kevin Hearn)
17) I’m With You (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
18) Alpocalypse (Weird Al Yankovic)
19) No Color (The Dodos)
20) Nighty Night (8in8)
Honorable Mention:
The Way It Was (Parachute)
The Dreamer, The Believer (Common)
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Cover Songs & Original Music Videos By Laptop Sessions Songwriters
The Laptop Sessions music video blog is a great combination of acoustic cover songs and original music. This website features cover songs from many of rock music's greatest bands, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. The blog archives hundreds of acoustic cover videos, how-to videos, and articles about music.We only play the best cover songs from the best rock bands of all time.
Here at the Laptop Sessions, we don't just sit down and do a bunch of cover songs- we make them our own. Yes, each cover will sound like the original, but it will also have a new, fresh sound to it. One of our specialties is taking a song from say the eighties and stripping-away the production. Then, we're left with just the song- simple (and most times, much better). We then record an acoustic version of that song and put it on this music video blog for all music fans to watch.
But, Laptop Sessions Music Blog is much more than just videos. There are informative blog posts, including the chords and lyrics to your favorite songs, recording tips, and much more. Plus, you can buy Jim Fusco's original songs right here on the music blog!
Right from the start, the Laptop Sessions Acoustic Cover Songs & Music Video Blog set out to be different. We wanted to give the best music blog for the world to enjoy. We wanted to put an end to bad YouTube cover videos forever. We wanted to bring great rock music back to the forefront with our great cover songs and original music. And, we guarantee we'll keep it this way- free videos in the archive for your musical enjoyment. If you're looking for the best cover songs, the most exciting new music, and the most informative music articles, look no further than right here: home of the world-famous Laptop Sessions.
